No more "three-and-a-half-64ths or 3/32" plus one of those little lines." This gauge measures in ways that regular rulers can't. —Dan Erlewine

Developed here at Stewart-MacDonald by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie, the gauge features a progressive string height scale: simply slide it across the frets and read the measurement under the string. It's faster to use than any ruler, and stays parallel to the fingerboard—much easier than trying to hold a ruler perpendicular to a rounded fret. The string height markers are graduated from .010" to .140" on the inch model, and from 0.25mm to 3.50mm on the metric version.

The back of the gauge has a time-saving fractional/decimal/metric conversion chart.

The String Action Gauge is made of durable stainless steel with precision-etched markings, and fits right in your pocket.

Tip: You can use the gauge to set router depth, instead of a shop ruler. It sits solidly on your router base, with the scale right where you need it.

String Action Gauge

Class Action

Hello again Stew Mac, along with the nut files i purchased i also bought the "String Action Gauge" which helped to dial in the action i desired. It is a very handy tool again to take the guess work out of the job. Recommended for anyone who wants to make the job easier.

Cool tool!

Very clever tool, a bit smaller than I expected, but INVALUABLE nonetheless.Thank you for re-invigorating my passion for helping artistic weapons-of-expression sing to the best of their ability, Stew Mac RULES!!!

My Favorite Setup Tool

This is like a Swiss Army Knife (without any moving parts). This is my most heavily-used item for setups. I'm going to purchase more of these to have on-hand at other locations. This takes the place of a ruler, feeler-gauges, a straight-edge, and calipers!

Invaluable for string changes

This is a superb little tool that easily slips in your accessories case.

Yes you can check your action at any time but especially useful when you change string gauge. Good plan to check the string height at 12th fret before the changing strings. A different gauge invariably changes the tension on the truss rod and it's as well to check to see if any adjustment is required on the truss rod.

This tool makes it easy to check before and after to ensure that your instrument plays as well after (if not better than) as before.

Excellent Tool

The String Action Gauge is a must have tool for guitar setup. I chose the metric version, since it's better for measuring small distances. Conversion charts from metric to inches are widely available, so it wasn't a problem when comparing my results to the recommendations which are often published in inches.

I also purchased the StewMac Understring Radius Gauges, and the CruzTools GuitarTech Guitar kit, which I found on Amazon. The CruzTool kit has the wrenches needed to adjust neck truss rods, as well as a metal ruler, feeler gauges, and some other setup tools in a nice case.

These tools allowed me to setup my Tele and my Musicman bass so that they play great! Even if your guitar is brand new, you can make it play much better with proper setup.

I also bought the book How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great by Dan Erlewine. You can probably setup your guitar without it by using the Web and the instructions that come with the CruzTool kit, but the Erlewine book puts it all in one place, and gives some setup specs and problem solving suggestions as well.

One area that the book was a little weak on was the topic of Neck Angle. After adjusting my bass guitar's truss rod, I still needed to lower the bridge to get the right string height, but the bridge pieces were as low as they could go. So instead I adjusted the neck angle which solved the problem. Luckily, I found some good info on the web about this.

A must have

I have more than one. I recently moved and my tools are still packed away. I needed to do a proper setup on a new guitar and I was unable to find the box where my stuff is packed so rather than do it without a string action gauge, i bought another. That's how much I feel this thing is a must have!